#but we're seeing our assumptions get knocked down

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Palm is not to be underestimated

This might be a common understanding but I haven't been able to stop thinking about how Palm is being shown as shy, tentative, a fish out of water (pun intended)...and yet there have been quite a few hints as to something deeper to his character.

At the end of ep 1, Neungdiao challenges Palm on the rooftop, getting him to admit he's been sent there to protect Neungdiao and then asking if he's capable of the task:

Palm may have looked unsure when he answered, "It's my job, I'll find a way to do it well," but my guess is that Palm is more than well-equipped for the role. In fact, despite his appearances as a 'humble fisherman', I think he's been well trained and prepared for this kind of role - whether that's specifically for Neungdiao or just in general - and if his fear and submission in the face or mere mention of his father is anything to go by, I think the training may have been dealt with a hard hand either from/by his father or by others close to him.

First, Palm knows his way around a gun (and we'll see him able to shoot exceptionally well in ep 3):

He also has very good fighting and defence training, and has the mindset to expect the unexpected in all environments:

His instinct in the car is to protect his charge and look towards the danger, just as his father does in the front seat, instead of cower and protect himself as might be natural for someone if they were 'just' a fisherman:

And his automatic body language in front of his actual boss, Tanya, is exactly like his father - a kind of formal stance.

Which is very different to when it's just them:

So far, Palm doesn't adopt this position around Neungdiao when away from his father and Tanya even though Palm says Neungdiao is his boss...but I would watch out for it in the future as a possible indicator of a change in their relationship. Maybe he genuinely wants to be Neungdiao's friend and this is his only way of showing it...or maybe he doesn't think it's necessary to do it in front of Neungdiao because he's really there under Tanya (and his father's) authority...or perhaps it's something else entirely (I hope not to lull Neungdiao into a false sense of security before double crossing him if Palm's father did have anything to do with Pipop's death and Palm is under the influence of his father...)

Anyway, all this, in a way, is to say that Palm must have also learnt how to identify untrustworthy or suspicious people as part of his training...and so I'm absolutely going to side with him in his wariness of Ben (whether this is born out of jealousy because he like-likes Neungdiao or just from his duties to protect him).

I've already mentioned how I've started to not trust Ben - the show tried to press the message a few too many times that he's a good guy - and I think it's very interesting that Ben was looking on when the guys on the motorcycle stopped in front of Neungdiao's car. Perhaps there to witness something he helped set in motion? @absolutebl expressed that they're "not entirely sure about Chimon’s casting in this role" and I'd like to posit that maybe 'Ben' is acting this way for a reason and we'll see this role change as the truth comes to light, therefore meaning the casting of Chimon here will feel better (I hope I'm not wrong!).

Anyway, back to Palm and I think his character is fascinating. He's obviously highly trained and yet his demeanour is shy and humble - is it an act and if so to what end?

[justanother-janedoe]

Marry You

Summary: What does the person the lawyer who's known what she's wanted all her life decide to do for her wedding? Seriously, what does she do?

Word Count: 1.2k

Harvey Specter x Reader (she/her)

*This isn't really set in a specific time on Suits; just somewhat near the last few seasons. It's been a while since I've watched it but I really wanted to post this story idea so I hope you enjoy.

From a young age you always knew what you wanted. At 7 you realized you wanted to become a lawyer. At 16 you decided to attend Harvard. And when taking your first steps into Pearson Hardman, meeting the 'Harvey Specter', there you knew from his iconic smirk he'd be an important person in your life.

So when you couldn’t make a single decision for the wedding this made Donna, concerned to say the least. 

At Donna's desk early in the morning

“Special order for one Donna Paulsen.'' Rachel said, placing the coffee cup in front of an exhausted Donna. 

“You're an angel.” Donna says looking frustrated 

"I got your SOS. What's wrong?" Rachel said, looking worried. 

"Wedding plans."

“Is there too much to do? I told you if you need any help at all I’ll be there-”

“No, that’s the thing. We haven’t made a single decision yet.”

"I mean it does take time to plan a whole wedding."

"But it's been months; you would think by now we’d have an idea for a theme. All we’ve done is look at tons of cake flavors, venue options, themes; but nothing seems to resonate with her.” Donna said, pulling out binder after binder of wedding decisions. 

It seemed that whenever they’d go over planning you would avoid it, trying to push finalizing for another time. (Not picking a wedding season, let alone date).

"Yeah, that's a bit weird..."

"I know."

"So why don't you talk to her about it?"

"It's just. Ever since she asked me to be her maid of honor I knew I'd do anything to give her the wedding of her dreams. But she's rather focus on her cases than sit down and make a decision. I'm just feeling so frustrated. I want to help her but I can't." Donna said, laying her head behind the stack of binders, eyes fluttering from tiredness. 

"Look. Why don't we just put this aside and see how tomorrow goes.” Rachel said, pushing the binders away. 

“We're all going wedding dress shopping, maybe once she tries on a couple of dresses she’ll get a clearer idea of what kind of wedding she wants."

"You're right."

"I always am."

"Hey, that's my line!" Donna exclaimed.

At a brand named wedding dress shop the next day

As the consultant described the dress you had on you couldn't help but feel odd. Not that the dress was bad. But with every gown you couldn't envision yourself walking down the aisle in any of them.

"So what do you think?" the consultant asked the room, waking you from your thoughts.

"It's beautiful."

"You look gorgeous."

"I'm bored."

"Louis!" Donna lightly scolded.

"Not of this but the dress. It just doesn't radiate how special she is. How is she supposed to take photos, smile happily, and look back fondly at this moment in her life when all she's wearing is this boring thing."

"Sir this is an Oscar De La Renta-" the consultant tried to pitch in.

"And this is about to be Miss Specter so I suggest we look at some other dresses to save us from wasting our time at this establishment." Louis said, turning away in frustration.

In the dressing room

"That Louis Specter sure sounds like a handful." the consultant said assisting you.

"Oh God if he heard you call him that. His ego is already inflated-" you said grinning at the consultant's assumptions about your relationship; probably more normal than the reality.

"I need to speak with you." Louis spoke after he knocked on the changing room door.

"Does it have to be right now?"

"Yes it's an emergency!"

"Could you please give us a moment?" you asked the consultant who promptly left.

"What's wrong?"

"This!" Louis said, pointing at you exasperated.

"You've lost me."

"What I mean is my two best friends are getting married to each other. You both aren’t treating this as passionately as you do in your cases. I’ve seen more fire in your eyes when defending clients than today. I mean I am truly concerned as Harvey's best man.-"

"Okay Louis. Calm down." you said, holding onto Louis' shoulders but clearly growing worried from his speech. While a part of her wanted to jest about Louis' borderline obsessive view on her, he was right. 

“I appreciate your candor, truly. I’m just… feeling a bit lost at the moment.”

“Should I call Harvey then. I mean he’d probably ignore me but I could get Donna to-”

"No Louis. I do want to marry Harvey. I swear I do."

"That's exactly what I wanna hear, especially on that big day."

“Thanks Louis.”

“Of course. I mean we really need to get your mojo back if I’m buying your dress.”

“Buying my-Louis you don’t have to do that.”

“Don’t even worry about the price. I offered to pay for Harvey too but he said he didn’t want me finding out about where he gets his suits…”

As Louis went on talking like he always did you felt appreciative of the deep caring nature he had; even if it was a bit eccentric. 

Late night in you’s Office

"You know working such late hours like this isn’t beneficial to your health right?" Harvey said, leaning against you’s door frame to her office.

“We’ll then. I guess I’ll have to fight the case beyond the grave.” you said, getting up to properly greet Harvey. As you gives him a quick peck on the lips he holds onto you a bit longer. 

“Hold on." Harvey said guiding you both to the couch in your office.

"So I might have overhead from a couple birds that you’ve been having a bit of trouble with the wedding planning. Now I know I’ve been gone for an unbelievable amount of time, but I just want you to know that you could tell me anything."

Harvey said looking at you tenderly.

"Seriously. Whether you wanted to elope or take 12 years until we have the perfect wedding; I'll support your choice no matter what." Harvey joked.

"We'll I don't think I'll take that long... I guess a part of me wants to blame it on you for leaving but deep down I know this life we chose isn’t exactly flexible.”

You started unraveling your nervous feeling on the wedding.

“ I’m just a bit overwhelmed by the fact that we’re officially together.”

“So these last few years we’re just a friendship?” Harvey jokes to lighten the mood.

“Yeah didn’t you get the memo. I guess it was misspelled. I meant best friend not boyfriend.” you joked along. 

“What I mean is for most of my life I never had to think of others. God I sound so selfish for saying that; but it’s true. The choices I’ve made have been simple to make because I knew everything it'd entail. Any other option would be pointless... While marrying you, being together has been-"

"Amazing, spectacular, just grand..." Harvey interjected to brighten your mood like he always knew how to.

"Yes. Planning a wedding though; I have no idea what I want for us. I mean there are so many flavors of cake and decorations to consider-"

"That's probably on me actually." Harvey said, referring to his business trip

"You think." you said sarcastically.

"I know going with Mike to set up in Seattle before planning our wedding wasn't the brightest decision. But I'd like to make it up to you. Because I really do want to marry you. From now on I'll be right beside you."

"Thank you Harvey."

"I mean it. " Harvey said holding both your hands and looking at you intently.

"I know you've had to make decisions for yourself for the most part but I just want you to know... Your not alone anymore. For all the parts you feel unsure of in life, I'll be there to catch you and push you back up again."

"That was so beautiful. Did you plan that?"

"That may or may not be a couple lines from my vows. Just act surprised when you hear them on the day. Speaking of what do you think about November?"

"For the wedding?"

"Yeah it's right around the time we started to get to know eachother..."

"You're such a romantic Harvey Spector."

"We'll your about to marry me so what does that say about you."

"We're just a couple of romantics I guess." you say as Harvey kisses you deeply.

Breaking the kiss you exhaled a breath. “You're relentless.”

“Well I’m sure it's one of the things you find attractive about me.” he said walking to her office couch; looking romantically into her eyes.

“I could think of a couple more things.” she said walking in a way Harvey thought was iconic. Like a scene in a movie. 

“PG-13?” he asked, stroking you’s arm as she sat on his lap.

“More like rated R.” she said, hands holding his face.

“Kinky.” he said, kissing her. If he were to tell others the way she made him feel, he’d be dubbed a romantic. But the truth was every time Harvey and you kissed it felt like the world faded like that scene in West Side Story. 

“While being caught and embarrassed by the whole office sounds like an interesting night, why don’t we go home?” you said, getting up from their close position.

“As if this office hasn’t seen worse things.” Harvey said, smiling in that playful way that made you feel light. Grabbing you’s coat as you went to get your purse putting you’s coat on for you. Turning around and giving Harvey a peck as you walked together.

Feeling relaxed and lonely no more you we're now exited not only to plan the wedding with Harvey but spend your future together. Knowing that while the future may hold some unpredictable moments you can share them with Harvey by your side.

Author’s Notes

Hello, thank you so much for reading this. If your familiar with my work you may know that I’ve been absent for a long time. But I’m motivated again to write. This may not be my best work but I feel proud of this. 

If your interested in a part 2 or more Harvey Specter stories let me know.

Anyways I hope you have a good day.

:)

[yongbokkk]

Can you do a male reader and Felix arguing and the reader gets angry and goes out on a motorcycle drive and something happens and he ends in the hospital and Felix goes and they apologize and they hug it or something along those lines?

i'm sorry .

pairings: lee felix x m!reader

genre: angst, happy ending

a/n; honestly this was rushed so i kinda dont like it 😭😭 but i hope u do

felix was annoyed, irritated that you've been spending time with beomgyu over him.

the two of you had been pretty close this day, and it concerned the blonde.

were you cheating on him? secretly making out with the other behind his back?

he was mixed with confusion and anger, as well as disappointment. why couldn't felix have you all to himself?

even though he has his lovable boyfriend everyday, it was reasonable to overthink when he had seen them taking pictures with a heart gesture.

now he had enough. it was finally the end of the day, and you were back home to your shared house.

as soon as you went in, you found felix with what seemed like a face written in anger.

you tilted your head, "hm? what's gotten you so down today?"

"i don't know, maybe its the fact that you have another guy." he shrugged, stating the obvious.

"another guy- you mean beomgyu?? you know me enough to know we're just friends." you reasoned, having confused of the assumptions.

"that line is famous for liars, you know. you can't be just friends when the two of you have been so close these days!" felix raised his voice the longer he talked.

"that's what friends do!-"

"honestly you could've just said you didn't want me anymore!"

"it was our friendship anniversary! don't you fking accuse me for cheating!" you had enough of his sudden possesiveness, you dropped the bag of sweets infront of his feet and went out the door to leave.

felix stood there dumbfounded, he'd forgotten about how you and beomgyu has been friends for years. wait, y/n!"

"stupid, stupid." you turned on your motorcyle, deciding to go on a drive for the evening.

you knew your way around the city, so getting lost wasn't a big problem. your motorcyle can take you wherever it wants within the area.

you didn't care, you needed your mind off of him. it'll all be okay soon, you hoped.

you were too busy getting rid of the tears brimming in your eyes that you didn't a car speeding towards you.

---

felix was restless, he couldn't sleep thinking about what he had done. he wanted to apologize so bad, he wanted to fix everything.

the blonde regretted so much, he shouldn't have overthinked that way.

as morning came, there was a knock on his door. felix took a while to have the energy and get up from his spot on the shared bed.

he opened the door, finding a stranger with a brown folder.

"excuse me, are you l/n y/n's partner?" she asked.

"yes.. why?" felix's heart ached at the thought of him.

"he's... at the hospital.. you should go visit." the lady didn't know how to break it to him, since he looked like he didn't know.

"...what?"

there he was running to the said hospital building, in a rush to see his lover.

"i'm l/n y/n's boyfriend, i need to see him now!" he told the counter lady.

"room 148 please."

as soon as she said that, felix was already running, so on the way, he was scolded many times .

he finally arrived at his boyfriend's hospital room, taking a deep breath before heading in.

he felt the urge to cry seeing you in bandages, it was his fault you were like this.

if he hadn't let his emotions get the best of him and started that argument, you would've been happily cuddling with him.

he sat on the chair beside the bed, staring at your sleeping faced.

luckily you weren't that bruised, it was sort of just minor injuries.

now, felix couldn't take it anymore. he sobbed relentlessly, begging for you to wake up.

"felix..?" as soon as he heard your voice, he rose his head immediately.

"y/n?" he jumped from his seat to wrap you in a warm but gentle embrace.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry!" felix apologized over and over again, while tears were falling faster.

"i should be the one sorry, i should have told you what day was it." your eyes began to water as you start to sob with your boyfriend.

"no, no, it's okay. i shouldn't have gotten mad like that."

"i love you more than your brain could process, idiot." you held him as tightly in return.

"i love you too, and i will forever."

[starwarsmum]

Day 27! Prompt du jour is PDA Free Zone

@maribat-calendar-events

Damian was nervous and it was making him irritable. It had been a year since Marinette had first come to Gotham and they were finally going to return the favour and visit Paris for a week or so. It would only be Tim and Damian for now, Bruce not wanting to leave Gotham with too few defenders.

So this would be his first time meeting Marinette's parents, the people who had raised her and shaped her into the remarkable woman she had become. He was not well known for good first impressions and that knowledge was eating his confidence with every passing hour on the flight.

“God, will you knock it off, Demon Spawn?” Tim said under his breath, ignoring the glare the younger boy shot his way. “I get that you don't like to go without being Robin for any amount of time but you're the one who wanted to visit Paris with me.”

“Tt, I am unbothered that I am unable to patrol during this interlude,” Damian said, feeling his irritation build when Tim scoffed. “Believe what you wish, but know that I take offense at your scepticism.”

“Whatever,” Tim said, dismissing him for the moment. He was working on a tablet but put it away after a few minutes. “Actually, since we have witnesses for the next couple of hours, I wanted to talk to you about this trip.”

“...I feel as though I am going to regret this but what do you wish to speak about?”

“Look, I've come to terms with the fact that you're dating my little sister. Do I like it? No, but I have accepted that I can't stop you and I guess there are worse people she could choose.”

“Tt, I was correct in my assumption that I would dislike this almost as much as I dislike you,” Damian grumbled, fingers twitching as though he was fingering a dagger.

“Shhh, there's more and it'll be easier if we just power through it. Like I said, acceptance yada yada. But I would really rather not be forced to face it for our entire visit to Paris. So I'm declaring a ban on too much touchy-feely stuff in my direct line of sight. I can probably stomach hand holding and cheek kisses but I swear to god, if you try to make out with her-”

“I do not see how it is any of your business what we do as a couple,” Damian said, scowling at Tim. He had thought the man irritating before but it was nothing compared to the annoyance that swept through him now. “I have not seen Marinette in person since she last visited Gotham after Christmas and I will not allow you to-”

“If you don't, I'm telling Bruce that you adopted the feral cat that's been making a mess in the cave,” Tim said, revealing his trump card. Damian swallowed down the growl that threatened to escape him and nodded once in acceptance. “Good, I'm glad we're in agreement-”

“You are blackmailing me, Drake, there is no agreement. But I suppose I will have to do as you order until I have something of equal magnitude to create a mutually assured destruction.”

For the rest of the flight Damian grumbled as he thought about ways to work around Tim's terms.

_ _ _

Marinette was buzzing as she waited in the arrivals gate. Luka rolled his eyes but smiled as she popped up on her toes for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. She had been excited for this visit for weeks but now that she was a matter of minutes away from seeing them? She was positively brimming with joy.

When she spotted Damian's signature scowl she squealed and darted towards him. The scowl softened as she hurled herself into his arms, dropping the homemade sign she had crafted carefully for their arrival. They stood like that for several moments before pulling apart slightly to smile at each other.

She pulled him down - what had he been eating? It was unfair of him to get so much taller without her - to kiss him and sighed when he pulled her flush against him. She could vaguely hear the crowds around them cooing or muttering exasperatedly but she ignored it and melted against him.

“Oh come on Demon Spawn, it's been less than ten minutes,” Tim exclaimed, blatantly annoyed. Marinette broke away from Damian blushing but grinning dopily. “Hey Mari, thanks for coming to meet us.”

“Of course! Come on, my friend Luka came with me to play chauffeur,” she said, picking up the sign after giving Tim a hello hug. He smiled at her warmly and dragged his bag as he followed her. She slipped her hand into Damian's as they walked and her cheeks started to hurt with how wide her grin was.

“I guess I don't need full introductions,” Luka said when they arrived, making Marinette pout and blush even harder. He chuckled, holding his hand out to Tim first. “You must be Melody's brother, Tim. Your song is pretty frantic, you should probably sort out your sleep schedule. And this chaotic sounding guy has to be Damian, right?”

He ignored the strange looks both boys gave him and turned to Marinette, gesturing for her to lead the way to the car. She giggled at the confusion radiating from her two guys and pulled a frowning Damian after her.

“Luka hears people's heart songs,” she explained, letting go of Damian's hand so he could put his and Tim's bags in the boot of the car. She pushed Damian into the back seat but was prevented from climbing in with him when Tim slipped past her. “Boo, why aren't you sitting in the front, Tim?”

“Because you two can't be trusted,” he said, glaring at Damian. She blushed again, giving Tim a reproachful look as she sat in the front seat next to Luka. 

The drive to the hotel was easy enough and soon they were clambering back into the car to take Tim and Damian to meet Marinette's parents. This time, Marinette successfully bullied Tim into the front seat with Luka and cuddled up to Damian in the back.

“No funny business you two, I mean it,” he said severely but Marinette only stuck her tongue out at him before settling her head onto Damian's shoulder. She felt something that had been fluttering around her chest, ever since the last time she had left Gotham, settle. She knew they were only staying for a week and dreaded the thought of spending so much time away from him.

“Maman, Papa, they're here,” she called into the apartment. She dragged them both straight to the kitchen, Luka having gone home so they had some time altogether. Her parents called back through, encouraging them to come and sit down and relax.

“How much did you sleep on the plane, Tim?” Marinette asked guilelessly. When he hesitated, she frowned at him before turning to her parents and declaring that Tim was going to have a nap before dinner. “Come on, you can use my bed.”

Tim protested but Marinette wasn't having any of it, pushing him into the bed and glaring at him until he promised to stay there for at least an hour. She gave him a sceptical look before asking Barkk to stand watch over him and make sure he stayed.

Honestly, Tim would have been offended if he had been more awake, but he decided to take the opportunity to actually get some shut eye.

_ _ _ 

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped back out of the attic room. She loved Tim, really, but he could be such a big brother sometimes. But with him resting in her room, she had plenty of time to spend with Damian without his hovering.

“You got him to rest?” The boy in question asked, eyebrows raised. She laughed and grabbed his hand to tug him towards the door. He didn't ask anything else as she told her parents that they would be back in time for dinner and pulled him out of the apartment.

“Barkk’s busy making sure he doesn't go anywhere,” she said brightly as they made their way down the street. “He was being grouchy and trying to keep us from saying hello properly, obviously he needed to rest.”

“And the fact that we no longer have a chaperone is merely coincidence, is it?” He asked, clearly amused. Stopping in the park outside her home, she pulled him down for another kiss. They stood there for several long minutes, Marinette playing with the ends of his hair while he pulled her as close as he physically could.

“I don't hear you complaining,” she murmured against his lips and they curved into a smile underneath her own. 

[felice-jaganshi]

Alastor X OC

His pet

Chapter 2/?

-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Charlie was in a panic after her meeting with the council of angels, so Alastor decided to keep their new guest a secret till he was done with his current plan. He informed Nifty and Husker to be gentle with the new guest if she woke up while he was gone, as he had plans for her.

He took Charlie to cannibal town and Vaggie went to see Carmilla.

Husker's curiosity got the better of him, and he went to knock on her door. She answered through the door, “who is it?”

He was surprised by how gentle her voice sounded, but he also knew not to make assumptions about a demon just because they sounded soft and weak. “Name's Husk, I'm the barkeep. Alastor told me to check on you.”

She called out from behind the door, “I'm fine! Um, if you have a shirt or sweater I could borrow though? My own got shredded recently. And I… I don't exactly have any possessions at the moment.” She sounded nervous.

“Uh, gimme a sec and I'll see what I can get ya.”

 Husk was a bit unnerved by this news. So he went down to bug the others while they were fortifying the place. “Hey, Angel Dust! You got any spare sweaters?”

He gave husk a weird look, “nothing in your style whiskers, why? You got a kink you're ready to share with the class?”

He groaned, “ugh, fuck no! Alastor brought some new sinner here last night while we were gone, and she said her shirt is too ripped up to come out of her room! I thought if anyone had something she could use it'd be you.” 

Angel frowned, “her shirts all ripped up? Alright, I'll be back, everyone.” He went upstairs and got a fluffy pink sweater from his closet, then looked at her door, right next to his. There was already a sign that said “Zariah”. Angel knocked on the door. “Hey, you the new girl?” He called. “I brought you a sweater.” She unlocked the door and peeked out at him, “ oh, hello, I'm Zariah. Oh, you're so pretty!” She opened the door more, covering her chest with her tail. He smiled and handed her the sweater. “Thanks doll, you're a cutie yourself. So, Al picked ya up off the streets? How did your shirt get torn?” He invited himself into her room.

She turned and frowned, “I was going to change… my shirt is all bloody. He found me in an alley and brought me here to heal.”

“Oh, don't be shy. I'm not into women, so don't worry about that! Hey, when Charlie gets back, we should work on customizing your room!” He laid down on her bed. She sighed and went to her bathroom and changed in there. When she came back out she smiled, hiding her old shirt in the bathtub for now. “I'd love that! So far everyone here has been so kind.” 

Angel smiled and sat up, “well I'm glad you think so. Hopefully you know how to fight? Because a war is coming our way, and I can't promise who will survive and who won't.” 

She looked shocked, “a war?! With who?! I'm not a fighter!”

He sighed, “then why the hell did Al drag you into this? Heaven is gonna try and fuck our shit up. We're gonna try to fight back. Apparently angel's can be killed.” 

She looked even more terrified, “th- the exorcists are coming?! Here?! I- I- oh fuck, oh shit! I'm gonna die!” She fell to her knees and began shaking. Angel came over and hugged her, “hey, hey, calm down. It's just another extermination. You'll survive. We'll find a place to hide you, okay?” She took a few deep breaths to calm down.

“O-okay… I… I know how to heal, like, healing powers. I can be a medic, maybe.” 

“Healing powers? No wonder Al picked you up!” He smiled, “Come on, let me introduce you to everyone.” he got up and took her hands, leading her to her feet and out to meet everyone else.

Eventually, Alastor, Charlie, and Vaggie returned with their reinforcements, and Charlie was excited to see everyone there, but…

“Oh! Who's this new friend?” She smiled and approached Zariah. She smiled, “hi! Alastor brought me here yesterday, I was really badly hurt and he said this was a safe place. I hope you don't mind. I'm not really a fighter, but I want to help protect everyone here from the exorcists!” 

Charlie smiled back and hugged her tight, “that's great! Thank you so much, whatever way you can help will be appreciated!” 

Zariah hugged back and purred, happy to be accepted so easily. Alastor blinked in surprise, “my dear, is that purring?! How adorable!” As she let go of Charlie, Alastor reached over and pet Zariah's head. She purred even louder and her ears twitched a little as she leaned into the affection. “Thank you! I pride myself on being cute!”

After a moment, he pulled his hand away, “hm, enough of that silliness.” He then wandered off towards his radio tower. It took him a little bit to realize she was following him. He stopped in the middle of the hall, “did you need something from me, dear?” He looked over his shoulder with his constant smile.

“Oh, I was curious where you were going? Everyone else is working to learn to fight with the angelic weapons you all brought. But since I'm not a fighter, I don't know how to help or where I'll be safest to hide if Adam shows up…”

“Oh? A safe place for our little fox to hide? Follow me, my dear.” He led the way, and she followed close behind. 

“Okay, I like the way you call me ‘dear’ all the time. It feels nice.” She smiled brightly, feeling so safe here in the hotel. 

He brought her into his radio tower. “Most demons are too scared to approach my radio tower. Just know, if the On Air sign is on, do not enter or knock. Or else I will be very cross with you.” His eyes glowed just a little in warning.

She nodded, still smiling softly, “yes sir!” She looked around. “When I was alive, there was a podcast made to sound like an old fashioned radio broadcast. It was my favorite thing to fall asleep to. Cecil was an amazing radio host.” She reached out towards the radio panels, but didn't touch. 

Alastor raised an eyebrow, “I see. So you enjoy radio?”

“Oh yes! Mostly FM stations, music is in my blood. But I enjoy radio talk shows and stories as well. As long as the voice is soothing. Yours is really nice. When do you do your shows? And what kind of shows are they?” She was so chatty now that she felt comfortable with him.

“Why thank you for the compliment, my dear. My broadcasts vary depending on my moods. Sometimes I'll just report on the tea around the rings, and sometimes… I'll remind people why I'm not someone you cross.”

“Hm. Have you ever read stories? Like Listener submitted short stories?” She looked at him with a head tilt. He chuckled,

“My dear, you are the first to dare to suggest any adjustments to my radio show.” His smile had a dangerous quality to it, but she didn't budge other than turning her head the other way.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Hm… no, I like how bold you are. It's refreshing. I'm used to fear from most who interact with me… how about we make a deal? Hm?”

“A deal? What kind of deal?”

“During the battle, you may hide in my radio tower if things get too intense. And in exchange, any time I need healing, you must provide it for me.” 

“Hm… any time you need to be healed, I will gladly give you healing. And how about, any time the on air sign is off, I can hide in here if needed?” She held out her hand.

He raised an eyebrow, surprised that she'd counter offer. “Hm, fair enough.” He took her hand and the whole room went green and wind swirled around them as the deal was sealed in magic. She looked around in shock, before fixing her hair from her face.

“Whoa, that was cool!” She laughed a little. “I didn't know you had windy powers too!”

“Actually, that's just the side effects of making a deal with a powerful demon.” He smiled, waiting to see if she'd show any signs of realizing what she'd done, only to realize she was rather innocent to how this whole thing worked.

“I think you and I will be very good friends…” He chuckled. 

He reached out to ruffle her hair again.

“Hey, I just fixed that!” She laughed again, and his smile softened. He had begun securing her as his new pet.

(If anyone knows how to link the other chapters the way others do, please message me or comment!)

[cosmicanger]

“ppl talk abt the george floyd uprisings as failing i just dont think thats true. energy from them went into the revitalized labor movement and the clarity from them have been informing the pro-palestine movement, ppl need to see this as a long process rather than being defeatist.”

“Yeah but the goal was defunding the cops and police funding increased. I'm not knocking energy and joy, but at some point, morale has to create a material result. We can't just "long process" ourselves forever. Believing in ourselves enough to go back to the drawing board and start figuring out how to do more is the opposite of defeatism. I marched with Occupy Boston. I marched after Michael Brown was killed too. I understand that *in theory* it is a long game. What incremental leftists don't understand is that the 21st century does not have to be like the 20th. The whole idea that long games work is based on 1) the civil rights movement, 2) smaller policies that marching has more consistently worked for. In both cases the results came from convincing people in power, which involved A LOT more than just marching. The electoral organization, the militant wings, the ability to overcome resistance from the right, none of those pieces are in place for big stuff because the country is structurally different now. We have a lot more people, A LOT fewer at the top, and multiple info bubbles. The "long game" argument is based on the idea that the majority will eventually win out, but the country is now structured in such a way that that's simply not true. Billionaires & politicians have figured out how to game the system to keep us constantly in a state of cope. This is why I've been doing threads on how they're playing us with Palestine. They do not care one bit that we're shutting down the streets. There does not eventually have to be a stop to the genocide just because the majority wants it. Those are 20th century assumptions. I understand that this is scary because it throws out the model of activism that incremental leftists have become entrenched in. But I expect that, as leftists, you should be able to face that fear head on. Otherwise you all are just street party Democrats. Also, finding new models of activism doesn't mean violence. There's more tactics in the world than marches, symbolic shutdowns, and violence. I'm begging you all to stop being so complacent about the long game and start thinking bigger. On Palestine, the past month has gone from "If we threaten not to vote for Biden, the Democrats will call off the genocide" to "Maybe if we get everyone in the streets?" to "Well, it's a long game, Palestine will be free eventually." Seasoned activists on here pivoted very smoothly from "The people united can never be divided" to "Well, look, boycotts take a year to really work, and movements are a long game." THEN WHY ARE WE USING THESE TACTICS, WHEN GAZANS MIGHT MASS STARVE IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS?????? If you see a short term problem and funnel everyone into long term tactics that OBVIOUSLY will not work in the scheduled timeframe, then as far as I'm concerned you are just as complicit as our entire government.”

[chirpsythismorning]

I have multiple versions of Mike in my head if I'm being honest.

gay/bi/unlabeled Mike discourse TW:

There's a version of Mike in my head that's gay and I love him dearly. I think that when you dig a little deeper into Mike's character, beyond what's being outright told to us, but also what's being shown, what you'll find is that not everything is what it seems (ie. mirrors = reflection/deception). And so navigating him as a character that requires more than us just going along with what's on the surface (what the casual viewers see) is what I do think leads to a lot of analysis that leans towards Mike being gay.

And yet still, simultaneously there's a version of Mike in my head that's bi and I also love him dearly. I see him pretty clearly in my head and he is wonderful and dear to me!! I also think this is more than anything because if someone whose bisexual can relate to Mike and his character, then that's great and it sort of just knocks down the basic claim that bi-Mike doesn't make sense at all/isn't realistic at all, as an argument? And so hearing that argument does irc me a little bit. I know we're talking about a TV show here, where everything is intentional. I get it and I agree! I do!

However, if we're going to also in the same breath use real life examples of peoples experience with sexuality, and argue how Mike's arc is going to provide representation to not only queer people watching, but also perhaps have a ripple effect on the entire film industry and how we as a society tend to perceive sexuality based on preconceived notions/stereotypes, in that regard, Mike being bi is valid... Because if this were the real world (again a place many of us are saying will be impacted by this moment in TV), then it wouldn't matter if we never saw Mike outright look at girls in the same way he looked at boys. This is a unique situation bc doing what we're doing in the real world would be despicable. We're talking about our perception of what makes someone gay/bi/unlabeled and all the assumptions at play in regards to that, while using the real world as evidence to support our claims. This is why, because of the impact on our reality, I would be okay with Mike being bi in canon. I'd also be okay with it assuming that Finn was okay with it. No matter what happens, Finn has a lot of say in Mike's arc, just like most of the main cast has a say in their characters. If Finn is standing by it then shit, I'm there!

I may be a gay mike truther, but I will gladly admit that there is bi-Mike evidence, bc there is! There are moments with Mike that show the colors of the bi flag that add up to at least a couple handfuls of times. While I do think the gay imagery sort of outweighs the bi-imagery in the details (there is also gay Mike evidence!), it's still not enough for me to rule out bi-Mike all together bc after all, sexuality is a spectrum and so the back and forth going on could technically be an indication of Mike questioning and figuring himself out!

I also think that Mike can be capable of having internalized homophobia while also being bi (or unlabeled/gay for that matter). I think he's capable of an arc separate from Will/El, related to him and his own insecurities and why he felt the need to be in denial for so long. All that closet imagery was there for a reason! His parents having hints at being aligned with more conservative values was intentional. I also don't think exploring this has to interfere with Will, El or any of the other character arcs. Mike did arguably start the show as the protagonist, who took a big step back from being in focus over the last two seasons and so yes I do think exploring his struggles more outright is something that could and should happen, to bring his character's arc to an end properly, regardless of what label he identifies with once that time comes.

And then there's another version of Mike in my head that's unlabeled Mike and best believe he is loved!!!. While I agree it would be frustrating to have to see people still unable to accept Mike not being straight, just like there are people still in denial about Will and Robin (an ugly reminder ppl will do it regardless), it also doesn't feel great hearing that Mike being unlabeled would be disappointing. Arguably one could make the claim that Mike struggling with his identity all this time and being surrounded by all this imagery back and forth, along with the whole forced conforming speech and that 'bs media propaganda' line alone, could be evidence supporting the fact that he's just an unlabeled king, bc they do exist. Again I welcome criticism to unlabeled Mike along with all the other interpretations of Mike's character bc some criticism is well supported and like I don't have a problem with discourse.

Here's the thing, I personally think it's sort of weird to rule out stuff as a possibility, at all? I think it's weird to make the claim that someone is not media literate or is setting themselves up for disappointment for simply having a theory. So yes I would rather believe all of it, consider every possibility, because it also allows me to not be blinded where certain analysis actually doesn't check out. Both gay and bi-Mike truthers will make a claim, be presented with evidence against it that arguably does check out as more strong that the original claim they made, only to downplay it as not that deep and move on. And it's because neither side wants to really acknowledge those deeper things if it goes against what they want to believe. (However, if it supports what they believe, then nvm, it is that deep!)

Sure it might be a little bit embarrassing to be super convinced a theory is going to play out, only for it to be way off, but this applies to literally everyone. Everyone has theories and most of them are going to be wrong. There's no shame in shooting in the dark when it comes to speculating about what could happen.

What I do however think would actually be embarrassing, is insisting a theory is not happening, only to be the one who ends up being wrong.

Everyone can do whatever they want. I can't stop anyone from making controversial posts and honestly I wouldn't want to. I don't want us to get to a point where we feel like we can't speak our minds about basic things or to a point where we make each other feel so uncomfortable and disliked that we're not welcome. I don't want to hurt peoples feelings and make them feel small over this because it's not that serious and making real life people feel miserable over a TV show is just not worth it to me!

If you find yourself discouraging others, think about the possibility that it could be you that ends up being wrong and maybe don't take it too far?

That's why I will not be caught DEAD saying a theory has no chance because it would be naive to insinuate that. Now, believing theories on the other hand... I could go on for hours about what I do believe. And I'm gonna have fun continuing to do it!

Anyways I love unlabeled, bi and gay Mike and all the analysis surrounding it. Yes I'm controversial as I do personally agree/disagree with both sides at different points. And so until we get confirmation, I'm open to differing takes and thinking about arguments that could be used to analyze each scene for each one bc you'd be surprised how believable each analysis can be (including straight Mike... yeah yeah I love him too (unfortunately). However, he does scare me).

[oc-aita]

AITA For hospitalizing my ex, who I barely even remember dating?

Really long post. I've got a lot to explain.

I'm (25M) an underground fighter. I've been doing this for about 4-5 years now, and I enjoy it - I like the energy in the crowds, and I get a good workout here and there. I'm pretty good, nothing special, and enjoy the amount of money I make. I got invited to this like primo fighting competition run by some mafia types, or something, I wasn't really paying attention. Anyway, it's supposed to be a big deal, so I went for the street cred.

It's been going pretty good so far, and I even got some young aspirational protege (22M) type following me around, he's a good time. Anyway, since everything gets televised (big deal) apparently an ex (26F) of mine caught wind that I was competing. So, she flies over to Ecuador, busts open the hotel door, and just bodies our table while we're eating breakfast. She then starts airing out our dirty laundry in front of everyone, calling me some "filthy rat" or something, I dunno, I was pretty distracted by the fact that I could not remember this person at all.

Here's the thing: we dated like a decade ago, and for like a week. I was moving away at the time, I made it clear that I was moving away, and that this was always going to be a casual thing for me. It was just supposed to be some quick action before moving to Nova Scotia, but I guess I hurt her feelings or something when I told her "so long and thanks for all the lip." I was always operating under the assumption it was a casual hookup.

But she just does not let up. She kicked my protoge, tumblr, in the balls. What am I supposed to do about that? Apparently she was competing too, and even flashed her little registration card, so now what was supposed to be some kind of "spat" in front of a large group of people is now turning into an honest to god fight. OK, fine, I'm a competitor, I'll compete.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: we got our asses kicked. My twinky protege, in addition to CBT, also just got clocked in the jaw and got his knee nearly busted in. She split my forehead open, so I looked like some bleeding dumbass stumbling around trying to learn how to walk. Seriously, she quite literally kicked the shit out of us - I'm willing to admit she's way stronger than I gave her credit for.

Now, I've always had a bit of a problem with anger management, but I'm of the mind that channeling that anger into fighting was a productive use of it - since, yknow, that's literally my job. So I did: While Twink was getting decked on the other end of our people ring, I """borrowed""" my friend's bottle of whiskey and smashed it over her head, then pinned her to the ground and beat her til she stopped fighting back. I didn't knock her out, technically she tapped out first, but I bet if I had kept going it would've been a KO either way.

I'll be upfront with the fact that I might've gotten a little carried away. The organizers had to haul her off on a literal stretcher, she couldn't even sit up. Whatever, we won, right? One more competitor down? Turns out, the kid was watching the entire time, and was... horrified? Maybe just concerned. I still couldn't really see.

I, personally, don't think it's that big of a deal, but our other "teammate" (30F) told me off for "setting a bad example" and being "completely deranged and dangerous." This is a competition! Everybody here signed up willingly! I still feel like I was solidly in fair territory. Some boxer literally dies in the ring and nobody bats an eye, but suddenly I'm the crux of all evil.

Does she have a point? Am I setting a bad example for twinky protege? Am I the asshole here?

[deadmomjokes]

Oh no! Triple-rear-ending incident? What happened

Short version: A lady who was Not Okay in some way or another smashed our car pretty good at a stoplight, then on the way into a nearby parking lot to assess damage failed to slow down and hit twice more in quick succession.

Slightly longer version: My husband and our daughter were waiting in a left-turn lane. A car smashed into them pretty heavily, but thankfully nobody was hurt-- it was a short sedan and we have an SUV. Still, no bueno, and knocked a chunk of the bumper off. So my husband gets out to see if the other driver is okay, and she's just.... Sitting there. He asks if she'll follow him through a U-turn into a nearby parking lot so they don't block lanes, since both cars seem driveable. She just says "sure."

At that point, he calls me (on speakerphone, hands free of course) to let me know what happened, and that they're currently making the turn into the parking lot. As he's explaining, I hear a massive CRONCH and my daughter starts yelling from the back seat. My husband, dumbfounded, only manages to go "She hit us again!" I'm in the process of telling him to hang up and call the police, thinking it's some kind of road rage thing and she's doing it on purpose, when it happens AGAIN. My daughter's crying again by this point, and I'm grabbing house keys and booking it-- they're not far, and I'm going to get Bean out of there asap while husband deals with what I still believed to be an aggressive driver out to get them.

I ran about 2 blocks to find them just chilling in the aforementioned parking lot. To my surprise, the lady doesn't look upset at all. In fact, the closer I get, the chiller she seems. Like, concerningly chill. Half-closed eyelids, totally blank face, just staring at the ground. My husband comes over to help me get the the stroller out of the car (thank goodness we always keep a stroller in the car, amirite?) and get Bean ready to go.

He proceeds to tell me that something is definitely wrong with the lady who hit them. When they got into the parking lot, her first words to him were, "Sorry, fell asleep." And by words, I mean 'mumbled noises.' Husband could barely understand a thing she was saying, everything was so slurred together and quiet. She might have said something about being on her way to the hospital? Maybe?

About then, the police arrive to do the report. The officer starts talking to the lady and ends up calling for EMTs. He told my husband that there "seemed to be some kind of difficulties involved that were making communication difficult," so they thought it best to have her checked by the pros to see what's going on and get her help.

Was it drugs? Maybe not-- there were zero smells about her, booze or otherwise, and she wasn't acting consistent with being high on something. So was it some kind of mental break? Possibly, but we just don't know. That's my assumption, though, and the vibe I got: that she was in some kind of crisis that left her unsafe to drive, but also unable to realize that fact. So we're not too angry about what happened. Just miffed that neither she nor the vehicle she was driving had insurance, so the cost is all on us. But again, if there was some kind of crisis situation where she wasn't able to think clearly, she wouldn't have reasoned through the fact that she shouldn't be driving without insurance.

But yeah. That happened. Bean has been very concerned since then about cars bonking us and us bonking other cars. Her general anxiety spiked a lot afterwards, too. All kind of expected, honestly, and she's doing very well dealing with her worries and big feelings about it. It was a whole other adventure trying to get the bumper replaced, but we finally did, we have our car back and driveable, and though we had to pay for it out of pocket, all is well!

[millylouedward]

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells - Review

 Boy, am I late to the party. I'm sorry guys, really, the bus was late, and then I found this strange device with a clock on it, hopped on, and next thing I knew I was in this grayish space while time flew past me. I finally found the brakes and landed in 2023. Hi, my name is ------, or better yet, just call me the Reader. 

The Reader had been struggling to get through the book. Her eyelids fought hard against her efforts, dropping after every sentence. Her mind wandered to other things, places, people. It wasn't the books fault, not really. The Reader just fucking hated listening to men from the 1890s talk about a bunch of other men and use the word "hitherto" too many times. 

Jokes aside, I gave The Time Machine four stars. That's right. I hardly even read books my men, let alone rate their work highly. I mean somebody has to knock all these white men down a few pegs, right? If it's gonna be anyone, it's gonna be The Reader. But not this time.

There was something so strongly philosophical about The Time Machine and I'm still struggling to fully place it. The more I thought about it, the more everything seemed to boil down to consciousness. I sat here with the book in my hands thinking that human consciousness is the root of all the problems here and in reality. What other species is so eager to escape their reality? None but humans. We are the only creatures so desperate to get away. Even when we're perfectly happy, there is still that quiet push, that desire to just be with our families, doing what we love, eating deliciously, and nothing else. 

In a lot of ways, I found The Time Machine to be rather anti-work, assuming that the only way to experience a utopia is through self-sustainable community. But then, was it really? Because in this book, we're operating under the assumption that the Morlocks are underground performing all the work to keep the Eloi alive. But is that really true? We never actually see any mechanical structures aside from the bronze doors of the Sphynx. Are the Eloi really just cattle to the Morlocks, or do they see themselves as having achieved the ultimate form of peace? Does a cow enjoy its pasture until it is slaughtered?

Like I said, I'm still working out the meaning of this text, if there even is any. Regardless of what it means, it says one thing very clearly. Human consciousness is the problem because it convinces us we must be in constant pursuit of an unachievable peace. 

I mean really. Look at history. There has always been a pain and suffering much greater than the majority of us in this world face. In the US at least, I can order a bulk pack of Oreos to my house from Amazon at 8 AM and have it there by noon. A few hundred years ago, people were toiling soil, fighting weeds and insects and weather patterns just to get a few vegetables. Now, farmers are pumping their foods full of growth hormones and using machines to grow, water, and harvest them in record speeds. 

Perhaps that is what this book is saying. Peace is not achievable without the suffering of someone else. It reminds me of a story I heard as a teenager about a town where every single person could live happy and carefree, but only if they chose one child to take all the pain. The child would be away from sight, in the dark, feeling pain and suffering every day. Loneliness. Bleeding. Hunger. Everything. Is it right to let the child suffer for eternity if it means hundreds of others can live in peace? And who of us in first world countries will be so brave as to look the child in the eye and acknowledge what we do to it to have our happiness? 

A lot to digest from The Time Machine. Overall I really enjoyed it. I actually bought a copy when I was in high school but the opening scene was so confusing to my brain that I never got any farther. And it actually still was hard to set the scene on the first couple pages this time around, which was a big reason for taking off a star on my rating (that and the little bits of racism). 

And here's my Goodreads review:

"If you had a time machine, where would you go? To the end of our galaxy? To a not so distant future where all the problems of the present have been solved? I find that this is the least important question proposed in The Time Machine. Rather, this story asks the reader to dig more deeply. Is consciousness a good thing? 

"I found The Time Machine to be both philosophical and entertaining. At once, I was eager to see how the time traveler will escape the year 802,701 and questioning the way consciousness drives us as individuals. Without it, we might achieve a sense of peace, like cattle in a pasture, the only fear being prey. Yet our having consciousness leads us to believe the constant pursuit of peace is achievable. And who has truly felt that? What human has ever experienced peace and silence like that of the Eloi? 

"I'm gonna be so real, I picked up this book because I realized the shortest book I've read this year was an Ali Hazelwood novella, and frankly I don't want to see her name and cover come up every time I look at my 2023 goodreads summary, so I had to read an even shorter book before the end of this month. However, I really, really enjoyed this story and all of the complex thoughts it stirred in me."

Alright, I'm onto my next books. I'm still trying to get into The Last Olympian so I can finish out the PJO series before the TV show releases, and I'm focusing on Iris Kelly Doesn't Date right now. This was book #51 in my Goodreads reading challenge, so just one more before I finish out the year.

[steamishot]

start of aug

i had my 4th therapy session on 7/27 with joel. my initial plan was to pay for two months of therapy which would have been ~$550. however, i didn't find my last therapy session to be so useful and the idea of shelling out another ~$225 for august was bothersome. he really helped me feel more at ease with recent anxieties, but now i feel like i'm just sharing normal "life's annoyances" that can be instead talked out with friends. in my last session, i talked about how living in a studio with matt can be difficult (the extremities of being gone for long hours on the 7 days on, both of us WFH at times, and then being 24/7 together in elbows distance on his 7 days off). he just empathized and said that it's hard. i also mentioned feeling mixed emotions/sad to leave certain friends here when the time does come to move back. he basically responded "just feel sad!". the whole teaching is to not resist my emotions and let them be. i realized in this session that my therapist won't remember details about my life because they have too many clients. instead, i will read the books that he has referenced and recommended.

this past week of matt's off week was generally good. though i do find myself irritable and annoyed because of the lack of alone time/space to ourselves. this is a perpetual issue we'll have, at least until we finally move back to CA. i've still been keeping an eye on one-bedroom apartments that we can move into. yesterday, we checked out 37X and 46J in the same building. 37X was at a really "good" rate of ~$3500. we always assumed that the higher the floor the better, thinking that the views are nicer and it would be quieter. contrary to our assumptions, it was not quiet up there because of the proximity to the giant ACs (?) of the building that would likely be going off 24/7. i also understood the term "down to earth" from this visit. the higher up you are, the more isolating it feels from the world imo. i appreciated our little studio on the 12th floor more after seeing those apartments. i learned that i like being closer to the ground and prefer views of nature (trees, beach, etc) over skylines.

we did a lot of workouts this past week, almost emulating our time at equinox. this included: 3 hot yoga classes, gym session, soulcycle and outdoor cycling. it's always the best feeling to feel so tired from workouts that you knock out really easily.

i officially received an offer for the new job! i signed the contract for 8/20, but they later told me they'll change my start date to 9/1 to avoid any issues with converting from a biweekly to monthly employee. they ended up giving me a 15.5% increase (negotiating got me 0.5% higher lol). i'm pretty happy with this as all staff also got a 4.6% increase this year as well. this basically means i'm up 20% since last year. i feel more adult now that we can technically live (survive) off of my income alone.

we had another double date with S&I for homemade taiwanese beef noodle soup. this was a pretty big success and one of my favorite double dates. the broth was excellent, and thank goodness the beef turned out tender this time. we met up in industry city and introduced them to our favorite coffee shop tadaima. I is a coffee shop owner who is also semi in the restaurant industry approaches things differently than us normal people. it was like a soft opening of our kitchen. i really do enjoy hosting/serving home cooked food; i'm really looking forward to doing more of that when we're back in CA.

on the move back to CA: it seems there is more understanding between matt and i about this issue. it has been a touchy subject since the start of this year. he's barely getting the time to live his life out here now, whereas i've lived it (while he was busy in residency) and i'm ready to move on. we're slowly getting back to be on the same page of agreeing that it's time to move back now. however, there are still no offers. at this point, it seems the job in san bernandino is the best option. we may seriously consider accepting that if they do extend an offer.

legal business: my parents have asked me to seek out a lawyer for some family drama between my cousin and my dad. my cousin may be guilty of slander. i have not yet found one who will accept our case.

[sobredunia]

Okay finally choosing to elaborate on this one

Ralsei knows about Undertale and the true nature of his world, and that's why he's Asriel

Disclaimer: this post and theory were created when only chapters 1 and 2 were out. if 3 and 4 come out and disprove everything, you don't need to come and reblog this to make fun of it. future me probably already knows. Theorising is a fun collective activity that we're all doing out of love for a piece of media, please be civil

I'll start elaborating the evidence I've found and the assumptions I've made that make this theory make sense

1: Ralsei knows about game mechanics. More than the other characters

This scene. Also the manual. Need I say anything else

2: Ralsei has a crush/is infatuated by/wants to please the player

This one's pretty easy to prove

Throughout the dark worlds, Ralsei's number 1 priority (aside from sealing the fountains) is to make sure Kris has fun. He teaches them about battle mechanics, praises them constantly, tries to make them involved by giving them decisions to make like the split-up in chapter 2... all that jazz. If Kris says that they want to become a bad guy, Ralsei either joins in with them or tries to kindly push them towards the path of goodness. Unlike Susie, who Ralsei gets very mad towards in chapter 1 after the k round fight

Now, this could very easily be explained by Ralsei wanting Kris to have fun, and since the player is controlling Kris, they have fun too by proxy

Except

In both chapters so far, there's been a scene where Susie has been out and about, with both Kris and Ralsei either being locked up or simply waiting for her. Both times, Ralsei has asked us if we wonder what Susie is up to, and once that happens, we see things from her point of view

In chapter 1, we're presented with the choice of if we want to make Susie go left or right, but she can't hear us well (notably, she mistakes our voice for Kris', which is a whole 'nother can of worms with the snowgrave route, but I won't get into that here) so she chooses a direction herself. This not only establishes that we're not in control of Susie, but also that when these perspective shifts happen we're still technically within Kris' body, just focusing somewhere else. The same happens in chapter 2

Why would Ralsei want to do this? He clearly has some amount of control over our perspective, but couldn't he also do this so he could speak to Kris in private, like we've seen he does? If he truly liked us, he'd want our eyes to be on him as much as possible, right? This shows that they care about Kris, right?

Maybe

But here's the thing: if we stayed in that cell, if we stayed waiting in front of Noelle's room, that would've been boring

We already know that he isn't in as much control over our perspective thanks to the snowgrave route, and if we say that we don't want to check on Susie we actually won't. We'll just wait. And Ralsei will know that we haven't actually gone to check on her. And thank god that there's a timeskip, because can you imagine waiting there for like 10-20 minutes? Absolutely boring. Ralsei doesn't want that. Ralsei despises boredom over everything. Ralsei despises making the player bored over everthing

There's also the fact that Ralsei seemingly always blushes specifically when Kris' soul touches them. so. yeah. the crush is evident

3: Ralsei willingly chose to look like Asriel

Alright, here's where we're stretching the logic a bit more

First, darkners are made of pure dark. That makes sense, right?

Seeing their down sprites, Kris and Susie are merely knocked out (ignore the Lancer) and meanwhile Ralsei has completely disintegrated into a pile of clothes. This is confirmed by Toby's concept art, where he specifically says to turn it into a pile of clothes. Since darkners aren't as corporeal, if one of them were to be knocked down, they could turn into nothingness

this is all good and all, but what does it have to do with the theory?

I'm glad you asked. You see, I propose that Ralsei can shapeshift. At least to some extent

Look at these sprites! The upper tuft of hair is completely different, the ears are longer and less messy, the horns are bigger and curved inwards, the robes are neater, the heart is less apparent and looks like a spade now for some reason, he shows more leg and the paws are more evident, he has friggin' visible arms, and the scarf's length and color are slightly different now. This design change is utterly drastic for a guy who just took his hat off, don't you think?

I know shapeshifting is a pretty drastic conclusion to come to, but come on. He literally looks even more like Asriel now, it can't be a coincidence. I am choosing to believe he did this willingly. I know your secrets, funni darkness man, I see right through you

And now, an intermission

Let's talk about Asriel

Undertale Asriel

We already know that, thanks to Flowey's inability to feel anything, and his power to reset, load, and save, he has become pretty much a caricature of a violent gamer. I cannot believe I would ever say those words in that order. And thanks to his ability to understand how a player's mind and thought process goes, he can and will use his similarities with them to shove just how awful this behaviour is in your face

In pacifist, he uses this knowledge to take things one step forward

He knows that you want a happy ending, and that his omega Flowey fight didn't satisfy you, so he gives you a lead. He tells you to check on Alphys, talk to Undyne, and make them date. Because of that, you learn about the true lab, about the lore and determination and how he came to be. You learn about Asriel and Chara, and he then sends you on your merry way to beat up his dad. Toriel interrupts, then everyone gets together, it's a happy moment, and then he interrupts

He dangles the happy ending right in front of your face, only to cruelly take it away

He takes the souls, the six human ones, and all of monsterkind's

But not yours

He's convinced you're Chara, his best friend, and he knows that once you get that happy ending you won't come back, so he locks you in battle with him so you stay together forever

He just wants you to stay. Forever. That's all he wants. And if he has to be cruel, to play into your innate need for conclusions, and make you do the same thing over and over for the faint hope of getting that good ending, then so be it

He knows that the world has captivated you, that you want to see these characters happy, so he exploits that

And where am I going with this?

The core of this theory is that Ralsei is the opposite of Asriel

He does not believe this world is good enough in itself to keep you playing. He needs to intervene himself. From the very moment you meet him, he tries to guide your hand towards a standard fun adventure where you can feel like a hero and you get the darkners out of their little worlds into the "main", "big" and "good" world

Just like in Undertale

Just like in Undertale

I don't know how or why, but what matters is that Ralsei knows about Undertale. He knows about Undertale and its pacifist ending and how the average player reacted to it

He tells us that our choices matter, that sparing enemies will lead to a more satisfying ending. This is the core message of Undertale. Not the one of Deltarune. In this game, your choices don't make a difference (and if you manage to bruteforce it so they do, the outcome is worse)

The question is- why is he telling you Undertale's message? He knows so much about the lore of Deltarune, more so than the rest of the darkners, and yet he hasn't picked up on that specific philosophy? Maybe it's because he believes that if he makes the player believe the world functions like Undertale's, they'll want to stick around for longer

Not only that, but he also provides you with a prophecy. A rundown on the lore of the world, ans what your main objective is/should be. Exactly like the intro of Undertale. Even the imagery of lightners and darkners is reminiscent of the one in undertale with humans and monsters like, c'mon dude, there's no way this wasn't on purpose

I also want to note that Toby Fox had made emphasis multiple times on how he wanted the beginning of Deltarune to feel like Undertale, down to the menus and the way you input choices when Susie asks about your opinion on the project (when you come back from the dark world the choice menus are like Deltarune's in the light world now, too). The moment we fall into the dark world is when Toby pulls the rug from under us, by changing the typography, border style, menu, and wether or not the character portraits are colored (never mind the battle system). like. the game itself tries to separate itself from Undertale so hard. and yet here we have Ralsei trying his best to steer back things by telling us Undertale's morals

The most interesting fact about this is that after he tells you the prophecy, it now begins playing whenever you open Deltarune and is skippable by pressing a button. just. like. Undertale. this man has far more control over the game than he's letting on, but he also has remarkably little say on what the characters do or how they think or what the main philosophy of this world is

Ralsei is acutely aware and has somewhat of a control over the game's UI and gameplay technicalities, but knows so little about how the characters within the game work and how to steer them right

And, using said awareness, he tries to make this as Undertale-like of an experience as he possibly can, because he needs the player to stay, and the only way he knows that a player will stay is by making things feel like Undertale. By making himself feel like Undertale. Because Undertale made players stay

also

Despite the fact that there's deltarune imagery everywhere in this game, these are the only two places where the angel is portrayed with an angel wing and a demon wing. I have no idea what the hell this is means or why these two places specifically. but there's that. just wanted to point that out bc i've seen literally only one youtube video mentioning it. what the fuck Toby.

So. yeah. Kris' brother isn't Ralsei. But Ralsei is the flower who adviced you on how to get a better outcome, the god of hyperdeath who dangled a happy ending in front of your face only to take it away with a smile, the prince of the underground who just wanted the person he cared for most to stay with him, the kid who didn't want to be alone anymore

I don't think asriel is ralsei but I do think ralsei is asriel

also he knows about undertale

[robinofgothamcity]

"trust I seek and I find in you, every day for us something new, open mind for a different view and nothing else matters."

♡ character: eddie munson

♡ pronouns used: she / her

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes

"and all that's left is the Hellfire club and the chess team," all of you looked at each other before knowing that none of you wanted to be around the chess team, "great, who's the club leader!" your classmate asked as she scanned the yearbook.

"it's eddie munson, i think he's their dungeon master?" you replied not really confident on DnD verbiage. they groaned in annoyance before they all started pointing at each other, screaming that they would be interviewing him, "enough! first of all, stop being a bunch of assholes. if none of you want to do it, i have no problem covering it. i have eddie in a class of mine just stop being jerks," you replied.

your co-editor, Melissa, shook her head in disbelief.

"you wanna interview that freak? i mean i get you got into indiana but isn't that a little extreme? it's eddie munson for crying out loud. he's not that pleasant to be around."

you rolled your eyes.

"and when have you spoken to him? because it seems like you're only judging him based on stupid rumors and you're no stranger to unwanted talks around the school," you replied giving her a stern look. she looked down knowing she had no rebuttal, "anyone else wanna try it? jessica? keith?"

the two others didn't reply, "thought so. that being said, since i'm covering the main story again this month, melissa you're covering the swim team, jessica is on the opinion piece, and keith you're doing confessions and advice," they all nodded in agreement.

you zipped up your backpack indicating that the meeting was over. melissa slapped your back, "maybe interviewing that freak won't be so bad! i mean, he has some friends," she said. "listen, i'm not going to judge someone i don't know. eddie has never caused an issue for me and i won't let rumors that jason spreads get into my head. you want to go off assumptions? be my guest."

melissa shook her head, "i'm not assuming anything but come on! he's on his second year of senior year, plays that god awful guitar, and has freshman as friends. it's pretty clear he's lame or at least a loner," you slammed your locker door, "melissa, if you're going to continue to talk about someone, maybe it's best if you don't stay apart of the newspaper team. having a bias in journalism is the number one rule of never being a good reporter."

with that, you left towards the room where the Hellfire club was located. you knew you had to set up a few times to actually sit down with eddie and get the details for it. your brother played DnD on his free time and whenever he explained it to you, it sounded like rocket science.

you knocked on the door hoping they could hear you over the loud metal music but once it was clear that they weren't going to answer, you opened the door and saw eddie at the table fixing a board. you gave him a small wave surprising him. he quickly turned down the music.

"how can i help ya?" he asked excitedly. you laughed, "i was wondering if i could interview you for the Hawkins Gazette! we've been covering all the clubs at the school and we realized that the Hellfire Club was next on the list!" you replied.

eddie was genuinely shocked to hear that you guys were wanting to cover him and his table-top club, "really? we're usually left out of that kind of stuff," you shook your head, "yeah, our editor in chief last year was a pain in the ass but don't worry, as senior editor, i made sure we covered all the clubs and teams here," you explained.

before eddie could say anything, a bunch of kids ran into the room, "well, i can get all the info tomorrow in class? i can see the meeting is about to start," you said excusing yourself. eddie agreed but it didn't go unnoticed by dustin on how he was staring at you.

you yawned the next morning as you opened the curtains of your room. you were beyond happy that it was friday and there was only two months left of school. you pulled on your academic varsity jacket and worn out jeans before deciding that you'd stop at the gas station near the school to get breakfast.

after you brushed your teeth and told your mom a quick goodbye, you got into your car and rushed out of your apartment complex. the spanish music blaring from your car stereo had you in a much better mood considering you weren't having to hear Blondie for the 900th time.

you quickly made your coffee and grabbed a few breakfast bars from the stand outside before slapping money on the counter and booking it to school. you liked to be there at least an hour before classes started so you could work on a few things.

"you're going to get over caffeinated one day," you heard a familiar voice say behind you. you chuckled realizing it was eddie, "if it hasn't happened already, i don't think it ever will," you replied. eddie started walking next to you.

you could sense the stares you were getting from a few kids and even teachers but you weren't going to let it affect you. eddie seemed like a sweetheart so far and you couldn't help but wonder why the rumors about eddie were so heated.

"so, you wanna interview the dungeons and dragons club, huh?" he asked. you nodded as you pulled out your notebook, "i was wondering if we could set up a few days in the next few weeks to actually give me all the information i need. i know the game is hard and i want to be as accurate as possible."

eddie nodded almost immediately as he took the blanket off the table and presented you the tabletop game.

"it'll be an honor," you smiled at him, "great! we can meet after school, weekends, even before school! i'm pretty much free whenever!" eddie tapped his chin dramatizing his thinking face, "i guess i could make some room!" he exclaimed.

you threw him the plastic wrapper as retaliation which he quickly dodged, "how about this weekend?" eddie said, "we can cover basic rules over and stuff at my trailer?" you nodded as he slipped in the time and his address into your notebook.

before you could look at the time, you heard the warning bell go off. you gave eddie a quick goodbye before darting off to class. you had never been late to class in all four years of high school and you weren't going to start now.

your first class of the day was advanced history and it was a subject you loved learning about. you wouldn't see eddie until fourth period where both of you were stuck in the easiest math course offered to seniors. you were barely passing the class and you dreaded every day going to it.

the rest of the day went by, classes boring you half to death until you were called into your newspaper club room by your advisor. you saw the saddened look on her face. "what's going on?" you quickly asked. she gave you an envelope with the confidential stamp on it, "i thought it was best you hear it first before the rest do," she whispered. you nodded and opened the letter.

due to budget cuts for the following year, those apart of the newspaper, robotics, chess, creative arts, recreational swim, and floor hockey teams will no longer be active come May and following into next year. hawkin's high school hates to see such important clubs go but we can safely assume that all of your students understand. please rely this information to all of your clubs as soon as possible and turn in any uniforms that might have been issued to your teams or clubs.

your eyes widened, "so you're saying this is the final paper to come out? what about all of the positions we voted for? Hawkin's can't just get rid of the newspaper! it can't happen," you said slamming the paper down. your teach nodded sympathetically, "I know but we can't do much about this. they need money for the cheer team to go to state and the football team needs to upgrade the field they use."

you gave her one final look before walking out the door and storming to the administrative office. you noticed eddie waving down your attention but you saw that your principal was standing outside of the office doors.

"are you insane! you're getting rid of half of the extra curricular clubs after this month to give to the freaking football team!" you screamed. you had caught the attention of everyone in the hall, including eddie, "you cut the budget for a team that doesn't even get to regionals!" your principal put his hand on your shoulder, "listen, it was a hard decision but we're sure the team will be champions next year. we appreciate what all of you do but some clubs just need the extra money," he replied.

you screamed as eddie immediately ran towards you.

"some clubs! just some?! you cut off the fucking newspaper, robotics, chess, creative arts, floor hockey and recreational swim! those are half of the clubs here not just some! you will be hearing from us at the next school board meeting!" your principal tried to get you to quiet down but you were too fired up to listen, "there's no going back on it, ( your name). we voted on the decision last month and made it final. now can you please lower your voice."

eddie could see you were about to pop once again and grabbed you by the shoulder, "no! we won't stand for it! so you're insinuating that journalism is less important than football? are you insane!" you screamed as you could tell that you were crying by now, "let me go eddie! listen principal aichner, you know we're the better club!" you yelled.

he quickly grabbed you and dragged you away from the scene as your principal just walked back inside of the office. you let out another yell as you slammed your arms onto the concrete wall. eddie grabbed them to get you to stop, "relax! breathe with me! you're going to give yourself a fucking panic attack," he stated as he stared at you deepily.

you nodded, following his breathing pattern and trying to get your mind together again. he let out a few calming breaths and held onto your arms until he felt he was safe to do so.

"it's not fucking fair eddie. we work so hard for this damn newspaper and it gets taken away because the football team is seen as more important? we actually contribute to something here! it's just not fair!" you yelled, "you guys are the last one to get covered for the rest of eternity and i can't believe we won't even get a farewell edition. this is such bullshit!"

eddie nodded as you let yourself fall into his arms. you hadn't even known eddie for an entire day yet but it felt like he was the only one with common sense at the moment, "i know but you tried your hardest to get him to back out. i know how much this newspaper means to you," you sobbed into his shoulder, not knowing what to say or do.

you didn't know how long you were in the room with eddie but when you finally looked at the time, you noticed it was nearing lunch and your face was all red and puffy. the little bit of makeup you had on was smeared and you were in no mood to be in front of everyone looking like this.

"listen, if you want to just not cover us for this last edition of the paper, i understand," eddie said. you shook your head no, "no, you guys deserve your time on the paper and no matter how anyone feels you guys are on the cover. i just need time. i'll see you tomorrow for the first interview? i'm going home to get myself together. i can't be around anyone at this damn school right now."

eddie wanted to stop you but he knew there was no point. you were so far into your own head at the moment that it seemed like you needed the time to yourself. he stood inside of the empty classroom and reflected on the situation. eddie knew there was nothing he could do but he so badly wanted to go to principal aichner to get him to change his mind.

+

the entire night you stayed in bed not wanting to talk to anyone or anything. your mom had went up to check on you every few hours but she could sense you were in no mood to deal with her advice. she heard from your advisor about the news and knew the mood you were coming home with.

around midnight, you heard a call from the phone in your room. you found it odd considering you never gave your number out to anyone and the ones you did would never be calling so late at night. you went to the phone and pulling up the antenna.

"hello? can i ask who's calling?" you asked, your voice sounding very rough, "( your name )? it's eddie. eddie munson." you perked up when you heard him say his name, "what happened, eddie? it's midnight," you asked.

"i know it's late but i got worried about you. you seemed so upset earlier that i wanted to make sure you were okay. how are you holding up?" he asked. you sighed in disbelief, "im just upset eddie. we work so hard for out club just to get cut because the cheer and football team need the money. we bring home more medals than they do. it's just not fair!" you continued.

eddie agreed knowing it was best to let you just vent for the moment. by the time you finished talking, you were going on minute ten, "sorry eddie, i know i'm just dropping all of this on you but hey, at least Hellfire is on the last issue ever," you tried joking.

"you really could pick someone else if you want, no hard feelings," you cut him off, "nope! listen to me munson, we want Hellfire to be featured no questions asked," you replied. eddie laughed as he twirled the extension cord, "this might be weird to ask but the mcdonalds up the road by my house is open. would you like to catch some disgusting food right now?"

"uh, sure? i can drive there right now if you'd like," you said, trying to contain your bubbling up excitement, "yeah, sounds good. my address is on that scrap piece of notebook so you'll pass the mcdonalds on your way here," he said.

you hung up the phone, changing into a sweater and sweatpants before sneaking out the window. you slipped into your car, hoping your mom wouldn't sense that you left.

the address eddie had given you left you in a part of town you hardly went into. it was a beat up part of town but when you saw the mcdonalds and eddie standing outside the door, you pulled into the parking lot, checking your hair one final time before turning off the car and locking it.

"hey," you whispered as you felt the breeze of the indiana cold, "hey, up for some fries?" he asked. you nodded as the two of you walked inside and ordered both of yourselves a meal. you two realized that it was cold but not cold enough outside to where you couldn't eat.

you sat on the trunk of your car, just demolishing the food down, "so, i really can't believe i had the privilege of sitting here with you," eddie said suddenly. you gave him a look, "what do you mean?" you asked. eddie sighed, "i mean, you know my reputation at school. you know the rumors that comes when someone is around me," he said.

"eddie, i've never cared for any of that because who am i to judge? im just a newspaper nerd that is waiting to get the hell out of Hawkins. whatever people are saying about you i know isn't true. if it was true i wouldn't be sitting here with you," eddie remained silent, "whatever people say about you is just baseless rumors. you know when you get out of this dumb city, nothing of that matters."

eddie looked at you an appreciative smile on his face, "what are you doing after high school?" he asked. you jumped up in excitement, "oh, i got into Indiana University in Bloomington for journalism so i'm moving there in july. i got a shitty apartment so i have to start packing soon. how about you?" you asked.

eddie shrugged.

"i don't know. my band has been looking to play in bigger shows so we're trying to tour if that makes sense," he explained. you perked up, "you should move to bloomington! the college scene really could help your band, you know? i'd let you crash on my couch until you made enough money to get an apartment."

"that's crazy, we barely know each other," eddie said. you shrugged your shoulders, "so? isn't that was people do in their time during college? make crazy ass decisions? we could be great roomies," you said. eddie picked at his nails nervously, "you'd be willing to let me crash in your apartment?" you nodded giving him another nod of confirmation.

eddie was struck for words to say the least.

the music coming out of the mcdonalds had you moving your head. you weren't the biggest fan of metallica but some of the songs you enjoyed.

"you like them?" eddie asked. you shook your hand, "kind of? i'm not a big fan but i do like a few of their songs. nothing else matters is my favorite," you said. eddie had no idea that you were this cool. hell, if he would have known, he would have attempted to be your friend long before yesterday.

you turned to face him and your attention was immediately caught by the rings on his fingers, "i like your rings," you replied, pointing to the ring on his middle finger. eddie slid the silver skull off and handed it to you, "take it," he said. you gave him a shocked look, "no, i couldn't plus it wouldn't even fit. your fingers a lot bigger than mine."

eddie took off one of the chains on his pants and put the ring on it, "wear it as a necklace. i have a bunch of rings like that." liar. that was one of his favorite rings but if you liked it, he didn't mind giving it to you.

you clipped the necklace around you and stared at him. the guitar solo from the song was playing lowly as eddie brought you in closer to him. you closed the gap and let him take the lead in the kiss. you played with the ends of his hair as he cupped your face with his hands.

"woah," you whispered in shock. eddie hummed in agreement, "a kiss after only knowing each other for a day? crazy no?" he asked. you shrugged for what felt like the twentieth time today, "i didn't mind it as long as you didn't," eddie said.

you smiled, looking up at him to agree with him, "not at all," you whispered, going back to kiss him once again.

[spirit-tracks]

Loyalty in Link vs Disloyalty in Ravio: how Link could have doomed both kingdoms if Hyrule and Lorule's situations were reversed

An essay by me.

So, let's establish the premise first off. In A Link Between Worlds, we're introduced to a dark world that mirrors Hyrule called Lorule, where there are opposite counterparts to every person in Hyrule, all the way down to even Princess Zelda. These counterparts have direct opposite personalities and character traits to the hylians in Hyrule, leaving them noticeably more cynical, rude, and pessimistic; perhaps due to their lack of a triforce, which was destroyed long ago to keep the peace, only to a have it backfire and instead devolve the world into chaos. While traversing this world you meet Hilda, Zelda's counterpart, and you begin to keep a more close eye out for your own-- a lorulean Link.

This Link, we learn, is Ravio, a merchant and servant to the Princess Hilda. He is noticeably different from Link due to his cowardly, selfish, and passive nature; ultimately proving himself traitor to Lorule in his choice to help save Link's kingdom above his own. With his nature so conflicting to Link's, it's safe to assume that everything about Ravio directly opposes Link, meaning by studying Ravio, we can learn more about our quiet hero himself.

And how, if he were in Ravio's position, Link could have actually screwed both worlds over.

Let's start with some of the more obvious observations.

For one, Ravio very distinctly lacks courage where Link is practically overflowing with it-- it's defining of him as the hero of Hyrule. This checks out by seeing Ravio running away from his world and hiding in Link's home while he travels between the two worlds to rescue sages and defeat monsters. Another point is that Ravio is comically selfish, squeezing Link dry of rupees even as Link selflessly allows him residence in his own home for practically no rent at all. The last is his notably chatty and sassy attitude compared to Link's more quiet and complacent behavior-- you'll find compared to Ravio, Link is pretty easy to persuade, and that's actually a very important difference we'll dig into later on.

With clear evidence of their mirrored personalities, let's make some safe assumptions. We can pretty much assume that, since Ravio is quick to take up residence in Link's (neat and tidy) home, that the (very unorganized) vacant house on the same plot of land in Lorule is Ravio's. We can somewhat assume that, since Ravio has plans for early retirement, that Link has extended working plans for his future. And we can theoretically assume that, since Link is Hyrule's reborn hero, Ravio is Lorule's-- that is, assuming the legend is the same.

Let's go bolder, though, and dig deeper. Let's assume that since Ravio saw through Yuga's plan to take the triforce for himself, that he's smart, smarter than Hilda at the very least. Let's assume that due to his decision to rebel and flee to the other world to find someone who can help him, that he can think outside the box.

Mirror that onto Link?

Well with the mirror theory, we could assume that Link isn't really the sharpest tool in the shed, and has a one track mind. That seems plausible, considering his first attempt at attacking Yuga resulted in slamming face first into a wall and knocking himself out.

Let's now look into the title card: where both boys' loyalties lie. This one's easy, since it's instrumental to the plot that Ravio rebelled from his own kingdom to help Link save his. Even despite the fact that he was doing it for the greater good, it didn't change the fact that Ravio abandoned Lorule, and his princess, in a time of dire need. Hilda straight up called him a traitor because of it, which must've hurt like hell considering they seemed to mean a lot to each other.

Link, on the other hand, was loyal from the get go. From the moment Yuga snatched Seres, he's determined to help his kingdom. He makes it his business to personally rescue the sages, save Zelda and defeat Yuga-- but that isn't to say he got this idea all by himself. Hilda talks to him telepathically, nursing the hero complex as he continues his journey-- its later revealed this was her leading him on to get the triforce of courage, which Link didn't recognize like Ravio did.

Link trusted blindly in Hilda, and this speaks volumes about how susceptible he is to manipulation. In game, Hilda had him like a puppet on strings, guiding him exactly where she wanted him in order to get the triforce of courage.

But with Ravio, the opposite happened. He sensed he was being played immediately and left as quickly as he could. This kicked off the plot. Because of his fear, Ravio fled to Hyrule; ergo he became instrumental to helping Link restore the seven sages because of his bracelet, rental items, and ultimately when he came back to snap some sense into her.

Let's compare them one last time. When Ravio noticed Yuga and Hilda plotting, he recognized that it was wrong. These were people he trusted, yet he still questioned their judgment and ultimately trusted his own morale over his loyalty to them.

Mirror that to Link? It fits surprisingly well;

Link does not question his superiors. Not any of the sages. Not Hilda. And especially not Princess Zelda. If we put it through the theory that Link acts exactly opposite to Ravio, this means that if Zelda were to make an astronomically unwise decision and implore Link's help with it, that he would follow, no questions asked.

An unwise decision.... not unlike the one Hilda made in a desperate attempt to save her kingdom.

And this all feeds into the grand conclusion; that if Hyrule and Lorule's circumstances were switched, and Zelda had plotted to take Lorule's triforce to save Hyrule, Link would have done everything in his power to make sure that happened.

According to the theory, if Hyrule and Lorule's circumstances were reversed, here's how shit would go down:

Zelda and the Hyrulean equivalent to Yuga (we'll just say it's Ganondorf) find the dimensional rifts into Lorule, and plot to steal their triforce to save Hyrule. When Link catches wind of it, he does not question the princess, blindly trusting her because he is loyal to a fault. Because of this, he is easy to manipulate into helping steal the triforce. He does not flee to find Ravio, because he is focusing on only one goal-- to save Hyrule from destruction.

In canon, Link had to rescue the sages to earn the triforce of courage. Ravio, characteristically defined as a coward, would be unable to rescue them-- and unlike in canon where Ravio proved useful to Link's inventory, Link would do no such thing for Ravio here. After Ganondorf captured the sages for the triforce of power, Link would then take the triforce of courage, and Zelda, having captured Hilda, would take the triforce of wisdom.

But then Ganondorf would take all three triforces for himself, just like Yuga had planned in canon. He'd remake a crumbling Hyrule in his image, and both kingdoms would devolve into chaos.

.

Poetic, isn't it? Ravio's disloyalty to Lorule is what saved both kingdoms in the end-- but Link's unwavering loyalty would have meant the destruction of them both.

[kaiparker-avengerssmut]

Their Doll 8

Let me in

B.Barnes x Reader, S.Rogers x Stark!Reader

series synopsis:  y/n Stark, all records of her non existent, and yet Hydra still find her. When she is kidnapped by a certain super-soldier and no one believes her, she finds herself searching for unexpected familiarity in her not-so-distant past.

Series Warnings: smut, violence, torture, swearing

Chapter Summary: y/n gets emotional

Warnings: swearing, feelings

A/n: The timeline in this has been altered, as there I things I wanted to include but I also wanted this fic to follow the storyline/timeline of Winter Soldier and Civil war.So for purposes of this fanfic, Peter Parker was discovered by Tony at a much younger age - when he was bitten - and has been an intern with him since, almost like a protégée.(For the purposes of this story Peter was bitten much younger too - more like when he was 9 or ten rather than 14/15)

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Life at the tower was...tiring, to say the least. During my free time I often found myself in the gym, lobbing knives at a target and trying my hardest not to biting one in Steve's chest every time he would correct my technique. When I wasn't trying to murder the avenger in cold blood, I was usually dragged into things by the other: briefings and debriefing for missions I'd never go on, my dad's parties, group training sessions and study periods with Bruce in his labs to name a few.

But for now, I was huddled in my rooms - fresh out of a hot shower after a brutal two hour training session and four mile run with Natasha - curled up on my bed and attempting to catch up on a few of the films I'd missed. But the exhaustion and drowsiness clouded my eyes, the noise from the TV merely in the background as I felt my eyes growing heavier by the second.

A sharp knock at the door snapped my out of my lowsey state, the people movie across the screen simple a blur of colour as my eyes darted past the tv and over to the door.

"Mr Stark is waiting at your door. Would you like me to let him in?" FRIDAY's evenly calm voice chimed, making me groan and mumble a 'no' into my pillows. The last person I wanted to see right now was my dad.

"Come on kid, let me in." My dad called from the other side of the door, and I could practically hear him roll his eyes and shake his head when I stayed silent. When he spoke again, it wasn't directed at me. "FRIDAY, override command and open the door."

"Wait! That's hardly fair!" I whined like a five year old, groaning again when the door swung open and my dad stood on the other side, quite clearly just as exhausted as I was.

"Get used to it, kiddo. Life isn't fair." Tony chided, walking over to my bed. I tried to shuffle away slightly when I felt the bed dip, my dad perching on the edge as his eyes scanned over the room. "I see you haven't decorated yet." He commented casually, as if nothing had ever happened between us.

"Yeah, well, I thought It'd be a shame to spend so much time on something when you're probably waiting to kick me out anyway." I mumbled, refusing to look at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you, y/n? Ever since you got back you've been-"

"Acting different?" I cut in, and when Tony simply swallowed thickly I nodded. "Funny that, seeing as I was kidnapped and tortured for three years. Not to mention made to kill people for another year after that."

"Y/n I'm sorry..."

"But you're not! You can't be, otherwise you'd actually have tried to save me, rather than leaving me to rot!" My voice cracked, tears pricked at my eyes and I now sat up straight in my bed, facing my dad but not looking him in the eye. "And you can't change that, you can't go back in the past and fix your mistake. And trying to fix it now sure as hell won't work, so I suggest you leave before I'm tempted to use you as my target for my training session tomorrow." I raised my voice, eyes now keeping his captive as the tears rolled freely down my cheeks.

"Oh, kid, they broke you." Tony murmured, cupping my cheek with his hand, eyes swimming with sorrow. Sorrow that I didn't want.

"You can't fix me either, because I'm not broken!" I said harsher now, voice only getting louder. "I don't need to be fixed..." I trailed off, voice barely above a whisper Joe as my eyes broke the contact, averting to my lap as the tears dropped onto the bed sheets.

That's how I found myself in my fathers arms, face pressed against his shoulder as the sobs made my body shake, hiccups escaping me as I tried to speak.

"A-all I needed W-was my D-dad, and yo- you took him f-from me!" I wailed, hands clutching my dad's shirt and his arms wrapped protectively around my shoulder, hands rubbing circles over my back soothingly.

"I know, kiddo. I'm sorry."

...

"Who is that?" Clint frowned, staring at the pictures scattered over the table in front of Natasha and Steve as they studied them deeply,  brows creased in thought.

"Our newest pain in the ass." Tony answered for them, slapping a thick folder down in front of Clint as he said so. The marksman was quick to pick it up, flicking through the documents, news stories and information sheets greedily.

"The...winter soldier?" He asked, looking at the three superheroes in front of him as if they'd gone mad. "But he's a ghost story!"

"I've seen him. Been shot by him, actually." Nat said, an sadistically proud smirk forming on her lips with her last words, almost as if it were an achievement.

"We're trying to find out more about him, maybe that way we can beat him." Steve explained, sitting back in his chair with crossed arms as he huffed in defeat, sick to death with staring at the same five pictures all morning.

Y/n walked in, a skip in her step as she crossed the room to Tony.

"Morning, dad." She greeted, placing a quick kiss to his cheek and heading over to the cupboard to grab a mug. Clint and Natasha frowned in confusion, looking between the two as if they'd witnessed pigs fly.

Tony shrugged, y/n too preoccupied with making herself a coffee to notice the avengers' reactions. When her coffee was done, y/n swiped her mug from under the machine and sipped happily, letting out a content sigh before wandering over to stand behind Natasha.

"What are you working on?" She asked, peering over the spy's shoulder to get a glimpse of the pictures.

A loud smash crashed through the room, Tony's eyes widening in shock and Natasha jumping from her seat in order to not get covered in spilt coffee. Y/n stood paralysed, eyes never leaving the photo in front of her as she started at the Soldier. Steve frowned deeply, studying the girl as her eyes glossed over with with what seemed to be...sadness.

Clint was already at her side, a comforting hand on her shoulder as they all asked y/n what had happened and if she was alright. It was like a constant ringing in her ear interrupted their words before they reached her ears, and y/n suddenly felt nauseous as she starred at the bright red star on the soldier's arm, his long and messy dark hair shrouding his face and his leather clad, muscular body. Only his cerulean blue eyes could be seen, the rest of his face covered in a black mask she didn't usually see him in.

"I-I need some air." She stuttered, stumbling blindly out of the room and down the stairs, tipping over a few steps from the bottom and tumbling down the last few. She quickly pulled herself to her feet, hearing still ringing and vision offset, hazy, as she scrambled for the double glass doors. Luckily they already stood open, so she flew through them and out into the busy streets of New York.

Y/n found herself colliding will someone almost instantly, angry shouts of 'hey, watch it!' And 'look where the fuck you're going, kid!' Being called after her like a chorus as she pushed through the bustling people.

She finally stopped, dropping to her knees and simply staring straight ahead, no intended subject in her line of vision as she tried to comprehend the-the grief, at seeing the a soldier's face again.

It had only been two weeks, and yet two weeks without him, his touch, his scent - it felt like an eternity to y/n now. She hasn't registered what her feeling meant for him before, liking him beyond a source of comfort had just felt...wrong, after all he'd done, and yet y/n couldn't deny it.

She was in love with the Winter Soldier, and she didn't even know his name.

...

I wasn't aware of when someone had found me, nor of how they got me back to the tower or even how I was now stood staring blankly out of the window that stood next to my bed. I gazed longingly, almost as if I stared long enough, hard enough, he'd appear.

But of course he wouldn't, he was probably half way across the world, knowing HYDRA. A soft knock on my door and my head was turning, facing my visitor with a look of pure grief and want. Desperate, unhinged want that could eat you up from inside out and you'd still feel it.

"Hey, y/n. Can I talk to you for a moment?" Nat asked tentatively, clearing trying to to disturb my shaken up state. I nodded, offering a small smile which she returned as I now faced her. She walked up to me, talking my hands him hers and playing with the as she spoke, eyes kind and full of understanding.

"There's a mission, and we want you to go." She said calmly, almost as if the mere thought of it would send me into some kind of heart attack.

"Okay," I begun, eyes flitting down to the floor before back up again. "What is it? Aren't you scared that I'm still HYDRA and all I'd do is stab someone in the back?"

"Not exactly." Nat informed me with a smile, amusement glinting in her eyes at my assumption. "For starters, we all trust you, well maybe not steve - but everyone else does." Nat and I both laughed slightly. "And I think you wouldn't have it any other way it to go on the mission yourself." Nat finished.

"How come?" I asked, brow raised.

"There's been a lead..." she started. "On the winter soldier. We thought you might want to help check it out, possibly capture him. Your powers may be the best chance we have a detaining someone as strong as him." Nat spoke. "And if we can detain him.."

"We can save him." I finished.

"Exactly."

[goldcranes]

👀

UNTITLED grisha series, darklina, modern business au Alina unexpectedly inherits a majority shareholding in the world's most powerful energy company from Mr Ilya Morozova, the nice old man she dog walks for. Determined to finally put her hard-earned business degree to use, she begins a mammoth fight to push ROZOV towards a greener future. The incumbent CEO, Aleksander Kirigan, at first seems willing to help steer her. But she soon finds out he's taken it extremely personally that a complete nobody has been handed such control – and that he's willing to fight unbelievably dirty to win back the company he thinks of as his.

send me a 👀 for a snippet from a fic i didn’t finish this year

The knock echoes through her flat. It's forceful, something frustrated in the heaviness of it, three irritable thuds against the wood of her front door. It jerks Alina out of sleep like a fish caught on a hook.

She's out of bed before her brain is as awake as her body, smearing hair out of her face, glancing at the clock to discover, yes, it is in fact eight o'clock in the morning on her only day off this week. If this is another Amazon Prime parcel, she's going to straight-up murder Mal. Yawning mightily, she shuffles down her narrow hallway and tugs the front door open.

“Your doorbell's broken,” says one of the two men standing on her doorstep, wearing identical suits and identical frowns.

“We always tick the thing to say you can just leave the package behind the bin.” She has to cover her eyes with an arm; it's brightthis morning. “You didn't have to actually knock.”

“We're not postmen. Can we come in?”

She eases the door a little further shut. “Um, no?”

The second man nudges the first with an elbow. It's a strangely human gesture, something she might do to Mal. It softens her a little more than it should.

“We're from the law firm Ecclestone and Hardyng, we represent Mr Ilya Morozova.” The first man produces a business card from a pocket and holds it out. “I believe you knew him?”

Alina takes the card, swallowing against the sadness swelling hard and fast in her chest. “Yeah, I – I was so sorry to hear he died.”

“Well, actually, that's what we need to talk to you about.” The first man steps forward. “It really would be better if we came inside.”

“No offence,” says Alina, holding the door firmly in place, “but you could literally be anybody? It's super easy to fake a business card? And I have no clue why you want to speak to me.”

“That's what we'd like to discuss. Inside.”

“No, thank you.” She puts her foot hard against the inside of the door. “My housemates are home, and two of them are, like, CrossFit freaks, so if you try anything––“

The second man lays a restraining hand on the arm of the first. “Sorry, Miss Starkov. It's been a long night. We can understand that this might seem a little bit strange. Look, why don't we go back to our office and you can come and meet us there so you can see this is all above board. Our address is on the card, we're just along from London City Hall. Not hard to find.”

“O...kay?” This is starting to feel a lot weirder and a lot less dangerous than her initial assumptions. “What's this about?”

“We'd rather not say on a doorstep.” The first man is somehow managing to look both infuriated and bored, an impressive combination she rather wishes she could do herself. “We'll book you in for a nine-thirty appointment. When you get there, ask for Sergei Beznikov, they'll know where to send you.”

Alina turns the card over. Sure enough, there's his name, printed in fuss-free black sans serif. “You're Sergei?”

“He is. And I'm Maxim.” The second man reaches out for the first again, tugs him away. “We'll see you soon, then, Miss Starkov?”

“I... guess?” All she can do is watch them pick their way down the overgrown garden path, diverting to avoid the pile of empty bottles from the flat upstairs. It's bizarre watching them interact with her street, like seeing whales swimming up the Thames.

When she goes back inside, Mal's just about upright in the kitchen doorway, sweatpants slung low over his hips, rubbing a thumb across his brow.

“Who was that?”

She shrugs. “Maybe lawyers. Also maybe serial killers. Good night last night, then?”

“Lawyers? Are you in trouble?”

She stops. That actually hadn't occurred to her. Thinking back fast – last time she saw Mr Morozova was last week, Thursday, when she was returning his two fat little sausage dogs after their walk. He'd offered her a cup of tea and they'd played a round of chess, had an amiable disagreement about the latest climate change science. She hadn't said or done anything she can imagine would need the involvement of lawyers.

“I don't think so,” she hedges finally, stepping close enough to grip Mal by the chin. It's always such a long way to reach. “Please, for the love of god, go shower. I could smell you from the doorway.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He laughs, knocks her hand away, disappears into the kitchen. With a deep breath, she forces herself to not follow him in. She's glad of it seconds later when his bedroom door creaks open and a beautiful blonde girl slides out dressed in nothing but one of Mal's t-shirts.

“Oh,” says the girl, stopping dead. “I'm so sorry, I was just looking for––“

“He's in the kitchen.” Alina turns to go back into her own room, trying to ignore the sad little thump of her heart inside her chest. “That door there.” She doesn't wait to see if the girl goes. At least if Mal's busy with whoever – and Mikhail, Dubrov and Alexei are probably still passed out – she can get in and out of the bathroom before they start hammering on the door.

Small mercies, she supposes. But her chest still aches at the thought of the girl's long legs, the easy blush on her fair cheeks, the curve of her hips under the t-shirts. All big red Xs on the treasure map of things Mal likes that Alina will never have. She pulls her towel off the door, slings it around herself, and tries to put the thought firmly out of her head. It doesn't work any better than all the other times she's tried.